Marathon man Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France delivered another Houdini-like escape to reach his first ATP World Tour final with a 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 victory over Steve Johnson at the Winston-Salem Open in North Carolina on Friday.
The French qualifier, playing his eighth match in seven days, came from a set down against 13th-seeded Johnson and shrugged off an early break in the second to win a see-sawing semi-final in one hour, 40 minutes.
Herbert, a doubles specialist who is ranked 140th in singles, broke Johnson’s serve twice in the third set and powered down 19 aces during the match to reach the final.
Photo: AFP
“I’m taking every day step by step, point by point, and trying not to think,” Herbert, who needed almost two hours to beat Spaniard Pablo Carreno-Busta 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 in the quarter-finals, told reporters.
“Maybe that’s why I’m capable of being there [in the final]. I cannot believe it, really. I’m really tired,” Herbert added.
The 49th-ranked Johnson had benefited from a walkover to reach the last four after Taiwan’s Lu Yen-Hsun withdrew from their quarter-final on Thursday because of a back injury.
Herbert, a 24-year-old from Alsace, was to face second-seeded Kevin Anderson of South Africa in yesterday’s final at the Wake Forest Tennis Center.
Wild card Anderson defeated Malek Jaziri 6-4, 6-3 in their semi-final late on Friday.
Herbert is poised to become the first qualifier to win an ATP World Tour title after playing nine matches since Spain’s Roberto Carretero triumphed in Hamburg in 1996.
The Frenchman is the eighth qualifier to reach an ATP World Tour final this year.
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